Love, Life, Lies, and Pranks of the Maraders
by charcoal sun
Summary: You've all heard the story before. Is this any different? Well, yes. Yes it is. Sorry i completly stink at summerys, but i dont have enough room for a better one
1. The Train Ride

**_Disclaimer:_ No, i'm not JK Rowling, so no, i dont own Harry Potter, and no, i never will (unless the fates bless me.) Got that? Good.**

**_Summery: _This is, well, the begining of everything.**

**_A/N: _**

**1. Sorry it's so short. The rest of the chapters will be longer, but like i said before, this is just my version of the beginning.**

**2. I'm probebly not going to go through the whole seven years, just have a couple of parts throughout the first five years, and then have it be full detail.**

**3. But then again, i could be wrong. You never know.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Train Ride**

James Potter was ecstatic- there was no other word for it. It was only a couple of minutes till he would, after long wait, be on the Hogwarts Express! He rushed his mother and father along, groaning inwardly why they had to be so slow. Couldn't they see that it was one of the most important days of his young life? As he got to platform nine, he stopped, confused. Where was nine and three quarters?

"James dear, didn't we tell you? You have to walk through the brick to get to the train," said the comforting voice of his mum. Oh. Right. They had mentioned it; he was just too excited to hear it. His father briskly stepped through the brick, followed by James, his cart, and his mum.

In an instant James was surrounded by thick smoke and hurried people. Students and their parents were all heading toward the train, occasionally stopping to join with other families or to stop and, while the kids ducked away to find their friends. There was a barrage of voices, high and low, loud and soft, from all different ages. Students laughing about what they did over the summer, parents saying goodbye to their children, overall greetings to those known and unknown. Sparks accompanied with a loud noise coming from the train informed the witches and wizards that there was ten minutes till the train left the platform, and set off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Now Jamsie behave yourself at school, ok?" said Veronica Potter, "And stay safe, who knows how many more tricks there are in that school and on the grounds since me and your father went there. And make sure to study and do all of your homework. And do eat enough and stay clean. And listen during class. And try not to get into much trouble? And be sure to write- I'll send letters every week, or even every day, to check up on you. And ---- "

"Now love, stop suffocating the boy, he'll be fine," said Matthew Potter, rolling his eyes at James. "How about you go and find Lilia, I heard that she was coming to drop off her son today." Shaking her head, she gave James a long hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Mum, I'll be fine, it's only school," said James, wriggling out of her hug. "I'll write, don't worry, and I'll see you in June. Bye!" Stepping away from her only son, Veronica gave a sad smile, kissed the top of his head, said goodbye, and left.

"Sorry about that James. Your mum is just sad that her boy is growing up so fast- no matter how small he still is." Matthew said with a grin, pulling his son into a hug. "We'll miss you, but don't worry, you don't have to write every day or every week if you don't want to. Just uphold the Potter name for us, will you? I'll see you in June then." Still smiling, Matthew released his son and James smiled and turned away, taking his trunk with him.

Everywhere he looked James saw parents saying goodbye. A mother hugging her fiery redhead daughter goodbye, two parents smiling bravely at their son, urging him onto the train, moms bursting into tears over their children.

"I can't wait!" thought James. "A couple hours and I'll finally be at Hogwarts- and hopefully a Gryffindor!" He lugged his trunk toward the train, and tried unsuccessfully to get his trunk onto it.

"Oi! Need some help with that?" A slightly taller boy with long black hair and a handsome face asked. He looked to be just around his age. "Sure," replied James.

The two boys lugged James's trunk onto the train, and then got the other boys up. "I was looking for something to spite my dear mummy over there." Said the boy, pointing to one of the mothers outside, one who had one of the foulest expressions James had ever seen.

"Name's Black, Sirius Black," said the smiling boy. "You must be James Potter. I'm starting too, but I'll probably be in Slytherin, like the rest of my foul pureblood-loving family," the boy, Sirius, said with a grimace. Anyway, do you want to look for a compartment?" Grinning also, James agreed.

"No offense mate, but aren't Black's supposed to be all foul and moody? Besides, they usually hate my family," said James matter-of-factly, remembering an unfortunate meeting with Bellatrix and Narcissa Black at Diagon Alley when he was looking for supplies.

"Yea, but I try to think of myself as a new race of Black, not like everyone else in this Godforsaken family," said Sirius in a very dramatic tone, gripping his heart, then turned and gave a cheeky smile and then glare at his mum through the window. James laughed at that, gripping his sides, nearly too weak to stand.

"I think – this is – the start – of – a beautiful – relationship" choked James, while Sirius was grinning like a fool. Then, with a jolt, the train started. As James began to close the outside door to the platform, a small plump boy suddenly ran up, lugging hiss heavy trunk with him.

"OI! Help me out here, can you?" the boy desperately asked while panting. James and Sirius managed to lug the trunk onto the train, while it was picking up speed, and as it was turning the corner, yanked the poor boy up with them.

"Thanks mates. I don't know what I would have done if I had missed the train. Me mum was going into hysterics over me leaving, and so I missed the warning sound" the boy said as the three of them lay gasping on the ground.

"Welcome. Fancy trying to find a compartment with us? My names James and he's Sirius" James said, pointing to himself and the other black haired boy. They scrambled up off the ground, and set off to find a compartment. As nearly everyone else was already in one, it proved hard to find an empty one. After bumping loudly into a group of other first years, except these were girls, and got into a near shouting match, they eventually settled into a compartment with one young boy in it. He was crammed into a corner with his hair in his face and reading a spell book, obviously trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. The three boys barged in- or well, two did, as the small one, who was named Peter, was more reserved – pushed their trunks onto the racks, and introduced themselves as James, Sirius, and Peter.

"Hi" said the boy, "My names Remus."

------o00o-------

Also on the train, a young girl named Lily Evens was trying to find a compartment. She finally found one, and after she had put her trunk up, a small group of girls walked up.

"Hello. My names Victoria, this is Brooke, and this is Constance" the third girl, who had thick brown hair and blue eyes, winced as her name was said, "do you mind if we sit with you? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure. My names Lily" the redhead said. As they were dragging their trunks in, a particularly loud group of young boys, by her guess also first years, walked up.

"Ello girls. Hope you don't mind, but we're gonna have to take this compartment from you" said the taller black haired boy. "See, we've been looking for a while, and need to rest our poor feet, so bug off, would you?"

"Um… no" said Victoria, with a fake smile plastered on her face "See, we've been looking for a while too, so would you please bug off. And whatever happened to lady's first?"

"'Lady's first' is overrated" said the taller boy with an equally fake smile, "and so are girls"

"Uh!" said Brooke, clearly offended.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed, also offended.

"C'mon mates, just leave them and their sissy over rated selves to the compartment. We'll find another one" said the shorter black haired boy with a sigh. Lily and the rest of the girls glared at him.

"Fine James. Just learn to remember the names Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, ladies" Sirius conceded. Peter looked at Sirius in shock with a look that clearly said 'leave me out of this!' and they walked away.

"Arse" said Victoria. The four girls walked into the compartment to wait out the long ride to Hogwarts, gossiping and sharing information about who they were and where they had come from.

Lily smiled. This was going to be a lasting friendship, same with the boys as far as she could tell, and a lasting hatred between the two groups. She could just tell, she thought as she leaned back into the conversation.


	2. A Warning and a Prank

**_Disclaimer: _Not JK Rowling. Not my series. Only my version.**

**_Summery: _Start of sixth year.**

**_A/N: _**

**1. Sorry how long it's been since I put up the first chapter- I just came back from vacation. So from here on out I'll try to have it come up every Wednesday, Saturday, and Monday. I might miss a couple of days, so sorry in advance, but hey, nobody's perfect.**

**2. Yea, so I decided to skip from first year to sixth, unlike what I first said in Chapter 1's A/N. Sixth year isn't going to have full detail, just a couple of chapters, and then go to a full thing starting seventh year. **

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**Chapter 2: A Warning and a Prank**

James grinned widely at Sirius, before turning his head toward the front of the Grand Hall. It was the start of sixth year, and he couldn't wait for the first years to be sorted and ol' Dumbledore to start the feast. He, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had worked (surprisingly) the whole train ride and during several visits to each other over the summer on a prank for today.

Sirius grinned back at him in his usual over excited I-must-have-eaten-way-to-much-sugar way. Even Remus started to smile, and Peter laughed. Then, the doors creaked open and Professor McGonagall lead the nervous eleven year olds in. They immediately quieted when they walked into the hall, all heads rotating upwards toward the ceiling, some gasping, transfixed. Then they started whispering to each other in tense tones, worrying over what house they would be in and what the school itself would be like.

James laughed, remembering his first year, and how sure he was about being in Gryffindor, and his delight in finding that his newly found friends, even Sirius, were also Gryffindors. McGonagall lead the new students up towards the front of the hall and the Sorting Hat. Once they were all gathered and the older students were watching, the hat slowly started to sing.

"_Again, the time has come_

_It's the start of a new year_

_The sorting of the students_

_Just wait- you soon can cheer_

_A thousand years or more_

_I've been working on this task_

_To sort the new comer scholars _

_So come! And see what's behind your mask!_

_Brave Gryffindor of the strong,_

_The fearless and the brave,_

_Takes those who show some courage,_

_A noble path comes your way_

_Smart Ravenclaw of the witty_

_The bright and the wise_

_Takes those who are so clever_

_And as knowing as an eagle that flies_

_Kind Hufflepuff of the loyal_

_The thoughtful and the rest_

_Takes those who show no bitterness_

_And are up for any test_

_Shrewd Slytherin of the cunning_

_The wily and the tricky_

_Takes those who have great ambition _

_And are known for being crafty_

_So put me on your head,_

_As now my song's been sung,_

_Let me peruse your ways,_

_And find out where you belong!"_

And with that, the sorting began. The first years were still staring, shocked, at the hat, not believing that it could have just spoken. Ah well, what other hats could sing and create their own songs? Their trance soon was broken, as McGonagall cleared her throat, opened up a scroll, and called the first name.

"Acton, Henry!" A small boy shuffled his feet up to the Sorting Hat. He sat on the stool and put the patched, scuffed up hat sitting there onto his head. It sat still for a moment, before shouting- "HUFFLEPUFF!"

As he walked towards the table, his entire new house cheered. Sirius began drumming his fingers in agitation as the sorting went on, only stopping when he was cheering for new Gryffindors, but then continued, the perfect picture of agitation. James glanced down the table. Close to where he and the other Marauders were sitting, Lily Evens and her group were cheering for the new students. She tossed her beautiful red hair over her shoulder and began quietly whispering to her friends, laughing occasionally. He wondered to himself how Lily would take the prank that he had planned. Furiously probably. As he stared, awe struck, James thought her to be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Too bad she practically hated him. Maybe this would be the year…

"James, James!" Sirius whispered, snapping his fingers in front of James's face. "Snap out of it! The Sorting's done, it's nearly time!" Shaking his head, James grinned at his fellow Marauders. Quietly slipping their wands from their sleeves and hiding them in their hands in the folds of their robes, they looked up along with the rest of the school to the front of the hall. Dumbledore stood up, and with a smile, began to speak.

"Welcome students! Welcome all of you, young and old, to a new year at Hogwarts! I know you must be starving, so I will just say a few quick words before you eat. Nitwit, oddment, blubber, tweak!" And with that, James and his friends flicked their wands, murmuring quick incantations.

As people started to look away from the Headmaster, there was a huge bang and words were appearing- and sort of looked like they were being written- in the air above Dumbledore's head.

_Welcome one, welcome all!_

_Welcome you witches and wizards to Hogwarts this fall!_

_Heed this warning as it appears in this hall!_

_Mischief and Magic, they do reign at this school,_

_To those who disagree, well, you're a fool!_

_Many tricks and pranks you'll see before Yule!_

_As a start to the year, here's a great jest!_

_We thought you might want to remember this amazing fest!_

_So remember these years, as they're the best!_

_The Marauders are us!_

_We do no harm! (Though it may seem so at times)_

_We are merely trying to have fun, relax, and give laughter to our school!_

As the last lines disappeared, there was another bang and confetti burst from the center of the hall, landing on everyone. Another wave of the Marauders wands, and those who the confetti landed on (which was the whole room, excluding the teachers) had their hair and clothes turned into neon versions of their house colors- for example Ravenclaws colors were now electric blue with shiny new bronze- with their houses animal on the back of their cloaks and foreheads. Most of the teachers, especially McGonagall, looked scandalized. Dumbledore on the other hand was smiling and chuckling as he looked around. The students were staring at each other and gasping, some pulling at their hair, and started to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. James grinned at his friends and started to laugh, before biting his lip to stop it. They had meant the prank to only be active on the other students, but their clothes, hair, and foreheads had changed as well.

"Who did this?!" McGonagall yelled furiously, beside herself, before turning towards James. "Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew! Detention! Fifty points from Gryffindor!"

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling as he quieted the school. "As we now know who caused this, may I ask you something? How long will this last?"

"It'll last a week Professor," said James, still laughing.

"Ah well, as I can see there is nothing else to do about it, I think we shall now start the feast, as I am sure your stomachs are rumbling from all of this excitement." Dumbledore smiles at the boys before sitting down once again, as food appeared on the platters on the tables. James glanced at Lily, who, like McGonagall, was beside herself in fury and glaring at James, before turning away and filling his plate. Ah well, James thought, nothing I can do about it. He would work on getting Lily to like him after the feast. And with that, he quickly began talking to Remus, laughing at the outcome of their prank.

* * *

"Give it up Lils, it's no use," said a voice coming from the door to the sixth year girls dormitory. "You've been trying to get the right spell since I left here twenty minutes ago."

Lily, who had been trying to find a counter spell to put her hair, clothes, and forehead back to normal, turned to face her friend.

"I know Tori. I just really don't want to give _Potter _the satisfaction of knowing they actually did quite a good job on the spell. If I can just … find …the right …one." Lily said to Victoria, tapping her hair with her wand and muttering a counter curse in between words. "Ha! There!" Lily had just restored her hair to its normal fiery red color. Now if she could just fix the robes…

"Ok, you're coming with me," said Tori, walking over to the bed and pulling Lily up.

"Wait, why? Where are we going?"

"We are going to go find Connie and Brooke and go welcome all of the little firsties and Rose. Then we are going to go outside and find something to do, so that you won't come back up here and let Potter ruin your first day back at Hogwarts. Over the summer you were so excited to be coming back here and yet here you are, brooding here in our room like a – a – oh I don't know what like but you know what I mean. I don't even understand why you're so mad about this. Now _come._" stated Tori, dragging Lily out of the room with her.

Lily and Tori walked down to the common room, looking for their friends, only to be crushed immediately by a pair of arms.

"Lily! Tori! What have you been doing?" squealed Brooke. Connie, who was on the other side of the room, ran over and joined in the hug.

"Oi! Where have you been? We just got here and you're already holing yourselves up in that room," Connie scolded.

"Sorry, I was just unpacking. Oh, and before I forget," Lily tapped all three of her friend's heads with her wand, muttering the counter curse once again, "I figured out how to get our hair back to normal."

"Why? I liked Connie's hair that way," asked Brooke.

"Do you want it to go back to the way it was?"

"No."

Lily smiled at her friends, looking them over to see how much they had changed over the summer. Brooke had an amazing tan, as per usual coming back from the States. Her parents were British, but had moved to Florida before Brooke and her little brother, Matt, were born. The summer before the girls first year at Hogwarts, Brooke's family had moved back to Britain so she and Matt could go to Hogwarts. Every summer though, they went back to Florida, where they kept a summer home.

Connie was also tan, probably from spending so much time out in her parent's orchard, and had grown several more inches over the summer. Her parent's owned a fruit orchard, and for reasons Connie had no idea why, seemed to be fruit fanatics. They thought the modern age didn't have enough fruit in it, and sought to fix that. They even had their five daughters first or middle names be a fruit. For example, Connie's full name was Constance Clementine Smith, and her little sister was named Rose Apple.

"So how does Rose like Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"Like? I think she's in _love_. With the school that is. Speak of the devil, hey Rose." Connie replied, greeting her little sister, who had just started as a first year.

"Hey Clementine."

"Stupid arse headed parents." Muttered Connie, hating for not the first time the name her parents gave her, as Lily covered up Rose's ears.

"Listen, Rose. Gotta go, bye," said Connie, giving her friends meaningful looks and dodging out the portrait hole. They ran out into the corridor, laughing as they went.

"Con, you shouldn't be so mean," reproached Lily as she covered up her laughter.

"Sorry, she's just been such a pest lately, asking what Hogwarts is like and saying how much she loves Hogwarts, and telling me how excited she is now that she's finally here. It gets annoying," Connie replied. The girls started giggling again before turning a corner and running into a group of boys, Connie and Lily falling over.

"Hello ladies, how are we today? No need to fall all over us, you can just tell us how you really feel, right love?" Sirius Black questioned, smirking at Connie, who was it the process of untangling herself from his arms, standing up, and trying to slap Sirius. Lily, who was in a similar predicament with James, turned and asked Tori to help her. Tori and Brooke quickly pulled their friends out, and said friends promptly slapped James and Sirius on the face.

"Ouch love that hurt, that really hurt," said Sirius dramatically, clutching his hands to his heart, as Remus and Peter laughed at them. "Where are the thanks we get for saving you from falling over?"

"That was the thanks," Lily replied, glaring at the two boys.

"Lily, see you girls managed to get rid of our prank. I must say, good work." James said, smiling at Lily. Lily continued to glare at him, wondering what in the world she did to deserve this. "He's such an arrogant toerag!" she thought.

"Say, would you all like to go outside with us, maybe a midnight stroll?" asked James, pointedly looking at Lily.

"No." Lily sharply replied.

"Why not?"

"Cause we'll get in trouble on the very first day, and I don't want that to happen."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"We can have just as much fun in the common room."

"We? Is that an invitation?"

"Ugh. I meant we _girls_."

"So that's a no."

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"No."

"No to not inviting us? That means yes!" said James gleefully.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Nov!"

"Si!"

"No." And with that, Connie grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her away, as she had just slapped James for the second time that hour, and was followed by Brooke and Tori. They walked back to the common room, Lily fuming.

"Who does he think he is!?" She growled.

"Well, I think he thinks that he's handsome, smart, funny, a jokester, prefect, Quidditch captain, and did I mention handsome?" Brooke quipped up. "And that's exactly what he is."

"Well – he – uh – ugh – he doesn't need to show off because of it." Lily replied, looking flustered. "I mean, really. He acts like he owns the whole school."

"Uh Lils? How did you get that from that one confrontation we just had?" Connie said ("the all so sensible one" Lily called her)

"It's not just that, it's how he is all the time, especially last year. Remember when he was mocking Snape, hanging him upside down and pulling down his pants, all just for fun? And he thought there was nothing wrong with that! Who does that?" ranted Lily.

"Well, he did call you a Mudblood. Remember that Tori wanted to do just the same thing?" continued Connie, unfazed.

"Its fine Lily, I get it," said Tori, putting an arm around her friend, "He's arrogant, annoying, and getting on your last nerve."

"Exactly." Finally, Lily felt that someone else understood her hatred of James Potter.

"But still, calm down. No need to let the ignorant slug get to you on your first day. Leave it till later," continued Tori.

"I still think he's cute," commented Brooke.

"Yea he sort of is…" Connie agreed.

"Traitors." Lily said to her friends while starting to smile, taking Tori's hand and turning and walking away. Laughing, Connie and Brooke caught up and continued walking back to the common room with their friends, tickling Lily until she forgave them.

'What is going on in that boy's head?' Lily wondered. 'How could he possibly think I would ever like him? He's an arrogant git!' She sighed and figured that she might as well listen to her friends and forget him. Lily started laughing as Brooke started singing "Sweet Home Alabama", a song she had learned back in the States, loudly in the corridor. Tori soon joined in, and other students started staring at the four girls, two of which were singing at the top of their lungs, and two were laughing so hard they almost couldn't walk.

Lily hopped through the portrait hole along with her friends and quickly shut it, then soon collapsed onto a couch accidentally brought Brooke, who had been heavily leaning on Lily so that she wouldn't fall over from laughing, down with her. This started a whole new round of laughing as Brooke yelped as she landed and lay on the ground, unable to get back up. By the time the laughing stopped, Lily wiped away tears of mirth and thought of how great it was to have such amazing friends, how much she hoped Potter would get over her and start being mature, and how excited she was for the year. Oh, and how she had to start prefect rounds in a couple of minutes.


End file.
